


Choose Your Mind Wisely

by Cantatrice18



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Family Feels, Feels, Fluff, Gen, Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 03:03:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9103774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantatrice18/pseuds/Cantatrice18
Summary: Tina finds a self-help book for legilimens hidden beneath Queenie's bed. Reading it, Tina discovers that her sister's legilimancy is a far bigger problem than she'd ever realized.





	

Tina sighed exasperatedly as she took off her Auror’s coat, hanging it by the door. Once again Queenie had managed to leave a trail of clothes leading from her bed to the bathroom, like a snake shedding its skin. Though as far as Tina knew, no snake had ever owned a short silk slip in baby pink or a pair of scanty black lace underwear. She sighed again and used her wand to send each successive article of clothing onto her sister’s bed, not bothering to fold them as she went. If her sister had wanted clothes free of wrinkles, she should have cared for them herself. 

The last piece of clothing, a satin robe patterned with waterlilies, had managed to get caught on a stray nail sticking out from the bedpost. Tina knelt to free it, trying not to rip the fabric. She’d just gotten it loose and sent it to join the sizeable pile of other clothes when something caught her eye. Amid the tangle of shoes and accessories under Queenie’s bed, she could just see the spine of a somber-colored book. Curious, Tina reached beneath the bed and felt around for the thing. It was probably one of her own books, she reasoned, one that Queenie had either borrowed and forgotten about, or swept up by mistake. Her sister would certainly never own any book that didn’t have some sort of bright cover or gilding along the spine. Queenie hadn’t read an actual spellbook since school (that Tina knew of, anyway). 

Her fingers managed to grab hold of the spine and she drew it out, brushing away the dust bunnies that clung to it stubbornly. The navy blue cover read “Love Among the Marigolds”, but as she ran a hand over it the teal writing shifted and swirled until the title showed “Living with Legilimens: Choose your Mind Wisely”. Intrigued, Tina opened it up to the table of contents. The chapters read:

1\. Too Many Minds: Shutting out the Noise  
2\. Whose Mind is it Anyway? Decoding your Surroundings  
3\. Privacy: A Beginners Guide  
4\. Trauma: What to Do When You’ve Seen Too Much  
5\. Coping with Kindred

Tina flipped to the last section, where Queenie had dog-eared a page. Tilting the book toward the light, she read:

“Although initially supportive, the family of a legilimens can soon tire of having every stray thought and action read by their child, brother, or sister. For a natural legilimens, requests to “stop reading” or to “try and control it” can result in feelings of isolation, sadness, and anger. This can lead, in turn, to division, hateful thoughts, and even a permanent split between the legilimens and their family. For those with weaker powers, avoidance strategies and self-occlumency may be used (see Chapter 3). For the strongest legilimens, those with universal inborn ability, this family split may be both inevitable and in the best interest of everyone involved.”

Tina set the book down slowly, an odd ringing in her ears. The words “family split” and “inevitable” kept flashing before her eyes like an electric sign. The idea of losing Queenie made her nauseous, and the knowledge that her occasional requests for privacy might have somehow damaged her sister permanently made her want to run back to MACUSA, find Queenie, and apologize until she had no breath left in her. She restrained herself, barely, and stood, dropping the book onto the bed beside the pile of clothes. With a wave of her wand, she folded the entire pile into a neat stack, all animosity towards her sister forgotten. The clock on the mantel struck five, the time Queenie would get off work. Tina paused, torn between leaving the book out for Queenie to see or hiding the book back where she’d found it and hoping Queenie chose not to read her very closely that particular evening. With a sigh, she realized that there was no way for her to conceal how upset the book had made her. Queenie could always read her when she was emotional, and in a few short sentences the book had made her more emotional than she’d been in weeks. 

She took up the book again and crossed to the fireplace, settling herself in one of the comfortable chairs to wait. She didn’t have to wait long, barely five minutes, before she heard Queenie’s light footstep on the stairs. “You’re home, Teenie!” the young woman exclaimed, the moment she entered the room. “Good, we can have the roast lamb recipe I’ve been waiting to try. You know, I think that with a few modifications I could…I…” She trailed off, her long limbs going slack and her lips parting as her mind perceived Tina’s emotions. “What’s happened?” she asked nervously. 

Tina took a deep breath and closed her eyes, visualizing the book’s cover. She heard Queenie gasp, but ignored it and shifted the image until it showed the page she’d read. In her memory, words like “anger” and “division” stood out as though in bold. She heard a thud as Queenie dropped her handbag, and opened her eyes. Her sister was standing stock still, eyes wide and horrified. “I didn’t mean for you to —oh Tina, I—.”

Tina stood abruptly and crossed to her sister, embracing her tightly. “I love you. And I will never stop loving you. Not because of your power, not for anything in the world. You have to understand that. Do you?”

Queenie nodded, returning Tina’s embrace. “I love you too. And I never thought you would leave me, or stop loving me, I just…”

“Just what?” Tina asked, keeping her arms around her sister.

Queenie shrugged awkwardly. “I guess I just wanted to make life easier for you. Learn some tips, you know, things that might allow you to let down your guard when you’re in your own home. Because you do guard yourself, you know.”

Tina looked away guiltily. “I know. It’s a habit. I just got used to doing it when we were little.”

“I know. But you shouldn’t have to.” Queenie smiled sadly. “Just because I’ll never have a normal witch’s life, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.”

“I don’t want a normal witch’s life,” Tina insisted. “I want you, legilimancy and all. And I always will. And that book,” she pointed to where she’d left the small volume, “that book can just stuff it.”

Queenie giggled. “There are other bits that are good. It’s not all doom and gloom like that, really.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” said Tina, running a hand through her sister’s blonde curls. “Just don’t go thinking that your power is what makes you yourself. Because you are so much more than that.”

Queenie kissed her cheek, her eyes glittering with mischief. “So if I’m not just my power, what am I, exactly?”

Tina opened her mouth to answer, but Queenie put a finger to her lips. “Show me,” she murmured gleefully.

Tina smiled, closing her eyes once more to concentrate, and began to build pictures in her mind.


End file.
